


“I like you.”

by NotTheProtagonist



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Anne can't deal with it, F/M, Gilbert finally says it, but there's a promise there, like in most of my fics they're too young, oh shit son, one day they won't need to worry about Ruby and Josie, or y'know rules and stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 11:48:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15773496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotTheProtagonist/pseuds/NotTheProtagonist
Summary: On a walk home from their extra lessons, Gilbert asks if they can stop for a moment.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Would recommend listening to 'Please Don't Say You Love Me' by Gabrielle Aplin for this - not the basis for this fic but it's a very Shirbert song. Hope you enjoy!

“I like you.” 

The words were a stubborn interruption of Anne's scolding rant. She made to reprimand him further, before it dawned on her and she felt her skin freeze over. Her mouth, still hanging open ran dry. Goosebumps appeared on her covered arms and her hands, once trembling with fury, were hanging limply by her sides.  
Gilbert was giving her the fierce look that Anne usually donned during arguments, though it began to falter as Anne remained silent.

They had only been walking home. Miss Stacy was giving them both extra lessons, whizzing between the two of them to assist with their future vocations, before collapsing in her own chair to prepare for tomorrow's lessons.  
Winter was bearing down on the island and Gilbert had started walking Anne home. It became easier to chat as the months went on and, when Anne's newly auburn hair had finally grown back to its original length, Gilbert asked if they could pause for a moment in the thinning woods. He'd been relatively quiet on the entire walk and Anne, having misplacing his uncharacteristic silence for a change of heart, was admonishing him – he couldn't just give up because things were getting difficult.  
Her guess on his thoughts couldn't have been further from the truth.

The first thing that jumped to her mind was annoyance.  
She'd been heartily disagreeing with anyone who even hinted that Gilbert liked her. Cole, who'd stated the fact multiple times, always smirked smugly at her fast contradictions. Diana always looked like she was enjoying a private joke after Anne's interactions with Gilbert, and would rarely divulge her thoughts. On the rare occasions that she did, Anne would scoff loudly.  
Now she'd have to face up to the truth and tell them they were right. Anne loved her friends dearly, but she wasn't too fond of being wrong.

Second was panic. What was she supposed to say?  
Thank you?  
Are you sure?  
I like you too?  
The latter was undeniably true, but she wasn't about to just blurt it out.  
They were too young. It was too fast, too early.  
Why did he have to be so...so...honest? Why couldn't he just wait? Anne was doing it perfectly well, didn't he know a good example when he saw one?  
Well, Anne wasn't doing perfectly well. Gilbert was, more often than she'd ever admit, the first and last thing she thought about in the average day. She felt a wall fabricate around her whenever someone happened to mention him, leading to several awkward conversations with her surrogate parents, Diana Barry and a teary Ruby Gillis.

Ruby. What would Ruby say? What would Ruby do?   
Anne was quite sure she could guess both of those things, but she had grown to treasure Ruby's friendship – how would she fix this? Ruby made it quite clear she intended to become Gilbert's wife, after driving him crazy by rejecting his proposals.   
To be honest, Anne found the strategy a little infantile.  
Surely, if you loved someone as an equal, marriage was sure to happen? Why would you risk dismantling that trust by rejecting them?

Her eyes flickered up to Gilbert's, who was beginning to shift uncomfortably on the spot.  
“Why would you say that?” She said, her voice quivering as her hands balled into fists.  
This was not the reaction he had dared to hope for. “What?” He shot back, his eyebrows knitted together.  
“Don't you know what will happen? Ruby will get upset and Josie Pye will make my life a living hell and Cole and Diana will-”  
“What have Ruby and Josie got to do with it?” Gilbert asked, stepping closer. He took his hands from his pockets and for one terrifying second, Anne thought he was going to take her hands.  
“Ruby is in love with you! Surely you must know!”  
Gilbert was at a loss for words. He hadn't expected her to fall into his arms but, after a confession like that, the two people at the forefront of his mind were certainly not Ruby Gillis and Josie Pye. Humiliatingly enough, Bash and Mary had walked in on him rehearsing his confession and, after fifteen minutes or so of teasing and smug triumph, they advised him to open up to her. Mary assured him that women liked a man who could be honest about his feelings.   
They did not tell him what to do if she started worrying about their friend's opinions.

“Anne, you're getting worked up. Please calm down.”  
“This is your fault!” She said thickly, her grip on the leather belt binding her schoolbooks loosened. “Why couldn't you just wait?”  
“Wait?” He questioned. “Wait for what?”  
Anne paused for breath. She could feel her throat closing up and her eyes filling with tears. She really, really did not want to cry.   
“Until we were adults.” She said, her brow wrinkled with concern. “Until Ruby was over you and Josie had other things to do rather than make fun of me.”  
“Anne, I don't care what Ruby and Josie think.” He said, his eyes boring into hers as he stepped closer again.  
“But I do!” Anne replied strictly. “Ruby's my friend. The last thing I want to do is upset her.”  
Gilbert's face fell slowly, like a feather caught in a harsh winter breeze. Anne was sure she felt her heart splinter as she watched him, but she couldn't bear to look away. She wanted to put her hands in his and explore the feelings she'd only read about. She wanted to look at those eyes without having to look away after a few seconds.  
And she would. But not now.  
He took a few moments to collect the thoughts whizzing around his head. “I understand.”  
Anne felt her resolve crumble. They were still standing too close for 'just friends'. With a minute nod, she decided to do something that would make Rachel Lynde gasp. Leaning forward, she planted a small kiss on his cheek, before placing two generous steps between them.  
“I'll see you at school, Gilbert Blythe.”  
After a momentary smile at his expression, she turned and ran towards the moonlit roofs of Green Gables, her stomach twisting with delight and fear.

She'd asked him to wait. She hadn't backed away in disgust or dissolved their friendship. She wanted this too – just not yet.  
Gilbert, stood alone on the edge of the woods, lifted a hand to his cheek, then began to trudge home, wondering how he'd explain the last five minutes to his family.


	2. “That was long overdue.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of people asked for a Part 2 to this, so here you are! Hope you enjoy!

That peck on Gilbert's cheek had been a promise. Or at least, it had felt very much like one: one day, not yet.  
Anne was almost eighteen. Both were deep in education and arguably too busy for tragical romances, though Gilbert's thoughts still returned to that day in the woods when he had a brief spare moment.

They hadn't been avoiding each other. In fact, they had been spending more time together than ever before. The only thing that bothered Gilbert was the third voice that would always interject if he looked at Anne in that certain way that made her skin burst into flames.  
Anne had been rather relentless in her mission to keep herself occupied. If she was going to support Green Gables, she needed a job, not a beau. She impressed her teachers with her dedication, but more than a few of them had taken her aside to remind her to socialise. On a sweltering summer's day, she finally gave in and took their advice.   
Well, nearly.   
They'd never know if she swapped socialising with some outdoor reading.

Armed with a thick book not at all related to education, she left her dorm and settled on a semi-comfortable wooden bench outside the campus.  
She managed fifteen pages before closing it with a violent snap, which was, when one considered what was on her mind, a valiant attempt.  
“That's enough, brain.” She murmured, ignorant of the glancing passers-by. “We agreed one day. Not yet.”  
Anne's usually cooperative imagination seemed to disagree. When? Until she had to watch a faceless beauty marching down the aisle to a glowing Gilbert? It simply demanded to know.  
Three years of heavy gazes and minute touches were too much. Her dreams had recently tortured her with visions of Gilbert beneath her, hands gripped on her hips as she-  
Her spine straightened and she cleared her throat.  
She could easily recall waking up in an utter mess and proceeding to toss and turn for the rest of the night.  
The thought of Gil touching someone else like that made her viciously jealous. But it had been three years. How could she be certain he still felt the same?  
She glanced to her abandoned book, fingers lazily grazing the backstrip. The short answer was that she couldn't, and she hated that with everything that she was.  
“Carrots? I thought you were hibernating.”  
She turned to face him. He was the only one to still call her that. “Everyone wants me to socialise, so here I am.” She replied, watching as he settled beside her.  
“With a book?” He asked, arching an eyebrow.  
She shrugged, closing her eyes as she lolled her head towards the sun like a sleepy flower. “It seemed like the best option.”  
He hummed quietly and she felt an arm move behind her, balanced on the back of the bench. It was something she'd always found inexplicably attractive.  
“You all packed for the holidays?” He asked, smirking when she cracked one eye open.  
“I haven't started.” She confessed, almost cringing when he gasped mockingly. “I have three days, Gil. And I'd much rather be here than in that stuffy dorm.”  
“I haven't either.” He admitted. “I have to agree with you, this is far more pleasant.” He copied her, angling his face into the sun's rays.  
They sat contentedly for the next few minutes, though Anne grew slightly restless and opened her eyes. She turned to face him and, hearing the movement, Gilbert opened his eyes.  
“You okay, Carrots?”  
She licked her lips, one hand pulling the stray hairs on the neck. It was important to have this conversation. Delaying it would only make her miserable.  
“I was wrong to care so much about other people's opinions.”  
He chuckled. “You'll have to narrow it down.”  
She narrowed her eyes with a look her future students would grow to fear. “That day in the woods.”  
For a moment, she was positive Gilbert didn't remember. When recognition flashed in his eyes and he instinctively shifted closer, she was quite sure she wouldn't need to explain herself.  
“You've been thinking about it?” He asked, his voice low.  
She would have loved to look away. His dark eyes had an intensity she'd never gotten used to. “Perhaps.”  
Why was she suddenly do distant? She was the one to bring it up. What was she so afraid of?  
Gilbert watched her fingers pick at a loose thread on her skirt. Anne was not used to baring herself like this. With a sickening lurch of his stomach, he saw that she was scared of his rejection.  
“Because I have.” He muttered, moving his hand to cover hers. “For about three years.”  
She gulped, cursing herself. This was not going how she had imagined. They should be in a grand marble hall. They should be alone and confident and happy.  
“I wasn't sure...” She began shakily. “It was a long time ago after all.”  
Gilbert, with a fresh burst of faith, lifted her hand to his lips, brushing them across her knuckles. “Anne, I don't think the word 'like' particularly covers it anymore.”  
Her eyes bulged. She stared into his dilated pupils, a little thankful he didn't laugh at her expression. A breath froze in her throat and she made a heroic but useless attempt to clear her frenzied mind.  
“Um...Oh.” She stammered.  
The corners of his lips lifted slightly. “Please don't do it again.” He pleaded quietly. “You must know I'd wait forever for you, Anne.” He allowed a warm laugh to escape him. “Though I must say I'd prefer not to.”  
Anne couldn't resist laughing too.  
This was perhaps once of the most important moments in her life, but here she was, giggling on a park bench.  
“I think I've had enough of waiting too.” She remarked, relishing in the sparkle in Gil's eyes.  
Her eyes darted around. This was too public, not at all romantical.  
She moved closer and whispered to him. “Meet me in the library. Geology.”  
Geology had been a famously quiet subject for their year, and any students who could have been haunting that part of the library were on a trip to the quarry miles from the school.  
Gilbert had to admire her resourcefulness.

She crossed her arms as she waited, stomach twirling in anticipation. She had definitely made a good choice – there were no windows and most students had already left for the trip or the summer.  
The librarians were only too happy to stay at their desks, cackling over the latest gossip or admonishing students who dared to cough.  
Anne was biting her bottom lip when he arrived, his face a light pink. As he approached with a tentative smirk on his lips, she felt her toes curl with excitement.  
“Hi.” He said, moving his hand up and down her arm soothingly.  
“Hello.” She nodded. She could see herself getting very used to this.  
In near-perfect unison, they moved towards one another, their lips finally meeting in the middle after years of teasing, innocent flirtations and sleepless nights.  
Anne couldn't believe all the time she could have spent kissing him. She'd spent hours of her life on fruitless, abandoned pursuits when she could have been with him.  
Because it was always going to happen, from the moment blue eyes landed on brown. It was a beautiful, fantastical inevitability.  
Anne and Gilbert; as natural as day and night.  
Gilbert was on quite the same wavelength. It had been best for them to wait, but that part was over. Anne Shirley-Cuthbert was kissing him and he was kissing her too. Her hands were on his chest and in his hair, tangling in unruly curls.  
And by God, it was glorious.  
Was he supposed to stop at some point?  
Why?  
His lips curved into a smile and he felt Anne vibrate with a soft chuckle. She withdrew, her cheeks bright red, a colour Gilbert was sure would be his new addiction.  
“That was long overdue.” He remarked.  
With a blissful surge of confidence, she leaned forward and pecked his lips, before drawing back.   
It was a movement Gilbert had seen from her before, and, truth be told, he was not entirely fond of it.  
“Don't look so gloomy, Gil. I certainly plan on making up on lost time.” She smirked, before slipping away with a devious spring in her step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave kudos if you thought it was decent :)


End file.
